Garden 2020

[skaredshtles]

Any of you maggots have recco's on irrigation kits? I want to semi-automate the watering of the garden and am thinking a 1/4-inch kit from Amazon combined with some 1/4 soaker hose would at least get me started... but jeezus the number of kits available is daunting.

Would make it easier if folks had a "get this one" or "stay the fuck away from this mfg'r" for me.

TIA.

[gravitylover]

Thanks all. @KQ - nurse logs 😁 @GM - I got tired of splitting after a cord or so and the chainsaw crapped out and I couldn't buck up more so I gave up. Ehh, oil is around $1.50/gal now so we'll get enough for most of next winter. I saw ads for potato bags with velcro front panels and thought they'd just be ugly and look silly in this garden so I figured why not use all the pallets I've collected to make nice boxes with fronts that open. If all goes right each one should give an endless supply from late June through the fall and so far things are growing great! I'm amazed how well the corn and beans are doing from seed too.

[BCMtnHound]

Any of you maggots have recco's on irrigation kits? I want to semi-automate the watering of the garden and am thinking a 1/4-inch kit from Amazon combined with some 1/4 soaker hose would at least get me started... but jeezus the number of kits available is daunting.

Would make it easier if folks had a "get this one" or "stay the fuck away from this mfg'r" for me.

TIA.

We just went with the rainbird system, with a solar powered timer off of the house like this:
Simple, but allows us to take a 3 week vacation in late July/August. We alternate our beds, so each bed has lines for both drip and spray irrigation. About 100' of 3/4" mainline off of a 1/2" line from the house. Come winter, we pull it out from the gravel walkway, and hang it on the fence to drain. Easy to patch into and plug un-needed holes. Or you could go professional with buried line and water controlled by your phone.

[skaredshtles]

We just went with the rainbird system, with a solar powered timer off of the house like this:
Simple, but allows us to take a 3 week vacation in late July/August. We alternate our beds, so each bed has lines for both drip and spray irrigation. About 100' of 3/4" mainline off of a 1/2" line from the house. Come winter, we pull it out from the gravel walkway, and hang it on the fence to drain. Easy to patch into and plug un-needed holes. Or you could go professional with buried line and water controlled by your phone.

Yeah - I'm starting to think that I've got too much garden for a strictly 1/4" install. I'm thinking now a couple of 1/2" mains off of which run 1/4" stuff to the plants. No plan to keep it hooked up - this will just be something I plug the hose into daily and set a timer for shutoff. I'm just trying to cut down on the hassle of hand watering everything every day.

[irul&ublo]

Yeah - I'm starting to think that I've got too much garden for a strictly 1/4" install. I'm thinking now a couple of 1/2" mains off of which run 1/4" stuff to the plants. No plan to keep it hooked up - this will just be something I plug the hose into daily and set a timer for shutoff. I'm just trying to cut down on the hassle of hand watering everything every day.

Are you talking about drip?

[BobMc]

I installled drip to all my plants over the last couple weekends. I bought a Melnor 4 zone timer off of Amazon and a 178 piece Chinese kit. The kit was mostly sprinkler and mister type emitters, I used them at first but have generally replaced them all with the drip style emitters. If I had to do it again I wouldn’t have bought the kit and gone with what I’ve slowly changed over to.

I have 7 boxes ranging from 4x4 to a 16 foot L shaped box. I did it in two zones, ran 1/2 inch tubing out by them, teed in and ran a bibbed 1/2 inch elbowed into each box. Pierce into that with your barbs and run emitter tubing or drip emitters to everything. Be sure to get the 1/4 inch emitter tubing that is .5gph every six inches, Lowes only had the 12 inch stuff, found the 6 on Amazon. For my larger plants I made circles with a tee out of the emitter tubing, either a smaller circle with two emitters or a larger one with three.

It’s pretty easy, be sure to buy the piercing pliers and tubing cutter kit. The barbs and tees can be hard to get in the emitter tubing, a quick pass with a lighter makes it a lot easier. Don’t buy tubing stakes for 10/$2, cut up clothes hangers, you can get three stakes per hanger and they work great.









Also, drip is way better for your garden. Overhead watering encourages fungal problems and bugs. It’s much more efficient water-wise, you get the water right at the roots of the plant. I’m already noticing a lot less weeding as I’m not dousing the entire box.

[BobMc]

More details.

Buy a bag or two of these

https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Bird-BUE...s%2C190&sr=8-4


Roll of this, maybe two depending on garden size.

https://www.amazon.com/100-Feet-Irri..._t3_B00EAIPKMG

Package or two of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-3120...-garden&sr=1-1

Few packages of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-67401-2...-garden&sr=1-1

One or two of these.

https://www.amazon.com/MIXC-Blank-Di...n%2C199&sr=1-3

Roll or two of this depending on size.

https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-0520...n%2C194&sr=1-7

I used these, barbs are cheaper and work as well, but you’ll need 1/2 tees and elbows quantity depending on design.

https://www.amazon.com/Drip-Depot-Ir...%2C207&sr=1-22

I bought this one, I use two for zones and a hose to another. One of these weekends I’m going to run more 1/2 to other backyard stuff and use that last zone.

https://www.amazon.com/Melnor-65034-...n%2C202&sr=1-6

One of these per zone.

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Univers...n%2C186&sr=1-4

A few of these or the double circle bend it back on itself types.

https://www.amazon.com/Drip-Depot-Pe...n%2C195&sr=1-7




That should cover you for most everything, and keep you out of Lowes or Home Depot. You’ll still find some shit you need as the project goes along but you can stay away from most virus vectors with some cash thrown to the Amazon overlords.

1/2 inch tubing supplies 200gph, so each zone can service a lot of ground. You’re also gonna want to have a filter/regulator to keep it at 25psi, I’d link but I’m too tired of linking.

[skaredshtles]

Thanks, BobMc - that info is worth its weight in gold. Exactly what I was looking for. I'll be doing pretty much all drip at this point - I have about 15 plants that will require drip lines, and about 15 *very* short rows that I was planning on watering with 1/4-inch soaker hose.

So not a ton, but it's set on two separate terraces, so will require a split. I'd like to avoid doing more than one zone, but I'm not sure the distance/drip end limitations at this point on running two "main" lines to everything that needs irrigation.

[Boissal]

Bob MC's info is solid, we've been doing a variation of his stuff for years. It replaces the soaker tubing with individual bubblers going to each plant. I've found that the soaker hoses work well but water unevenly if you have too much length. The bubblers don't seem to care as much about pressure loss and I have up to 15 in a row that deliver the same amount of water.
Everything is above ground, we lay it out right after we plant and forget about it other than a weekly check for leaks or the occasional disconnected bubbler from the pressure surge when the water comes on.
The setup allows us to get out of town for a week without worrying everything will burn and it works very well at minimizing water use. At the end of the season I take everything down and recover all the little connector pieces. I usually manage to re-use most of the small tubing from year to year too so it's relatively waste-free.

Here's this year's operation, entirely done by Ms Boissal as I've been a lazy sack of shit. The main garden has 15 tomatoes and 20 peppers. The potatoes in the middle are out of control and we're running out of dirt to mound them. There are melons and cucs on one of the trellises and climbing beans and peas on the other. A few squashes are growing on the edges and there's a shade areas for broccoli, brussel sprouts, and the lettuces. We have corn in the way back and giant sunflowers to create a screen for the chicken coop. The heroin production unit is just out of sight on the left, poppies everywhere



This is the garlic/onion and herb garden. There's an arugula forest in the background that I occasionally attack with the weed wacker but it only comes back stronger. The sage is also very aggressive, we've been chopping it up and drying it to make little bundles we burn as mosquito repellent, it smells like ditch weed and stray burning but it beats spraying deet everywhere...

[getoutside]

^^ nicely done by the ms. are the cats helping with the birds yet??

[Boissal]

^^ nicely done by the ms. are the cats helping with the birds yet??

She crushed it. I usually do all the prep work, planting, and irrigation but this year I couldn't get off my ass and she took over. She did it better of course. Hopefully she doesn't punish me with canning duty, that stuff is hard.

The two smart cats are terrified of the birds. Ugly is way too aloof to care and Artie too senile... The dog is definitely the self-appointed coop guardian.

[riser4]

She crushed it. I usually do all the prep work, planting, and irrigation but this year I couldn't get off my ass and she took over. She did it better of course. Hopefully she doesn't punish me with canning duty, that stuff is hard.

The two smart cats are terrified of the birds. Ugly is way too aloof to care and Artie too senile... The dog is definitely the self-appointed coop guardian.

That's cause he wants to eat the chicken shit. Kisses!

[riser4]

Bob MC's info is solid, we've been doing a variation of his stuff for years. It replaces the soaker tubing with individual bubblers going to each plant. I've found that the soaker hoses work well but water unevenly if you have too much length. The bubblers don't seem to care as much about pressure loss and I have up to 15 in a row that deliver the same amount of water.
Everything is above ground, we lay it out right after we plant and forget about it other than a weekly check for leaks or the occasional disconnected bubbler from the pressure surge when the water comes on.
The setup allows us to get out of town for a week without worrying everything will burn and it works very well at minimizing water use. At the end of the season I take everything down and recover all the little connector pieces. I usually manage to re-use most of the small tubing from year to year too so it's relatively waste-free.

Here's this year's operation, entirely done by Ms Boissal as I've been a lazy sack of shit. The main garden has 15 tomatoes and 20 peppers. The potatoes in the middle are out of control and we're running out of dirt to mound them. There are melons and cucs on one of the trellises and climbing beans and peas on the other. A few squashes are growing on the edges and there's a shade areas for broccoli, brussel sprouts, and the lettuces. We have corn in the way back and giant sunflowers to create a screen for the chicken coop. The heroin production unit is just out of sight on the left, poppies everywhere



This is the garlic/onion and herb garden. There's an arugula forest in the background that I occasionally attack with the weed wacker but it only comes back stronger. The sage is also very aggressive, we've been chopping it up and drying it to make little bundles we burn as mosquito repellent, it smells like ditch weed and stray burning but it beats spraying deet everywhere...

Man, I want me some of that SL,UT black tar heroin when you get it done!

[Mr. Mike]

holy shit Boisal, that's an impressive layout. Hats off to the Mrs.

[SB]

good looking garlic

mine is doing well also

[tgapp]

good looking garlic

mine is doing well also

dang, you guys are serious about garlic. also all of your layouts put my garden to shame, i wanna share pics so i can get pointers but i'm a little embarrassed. gotta start somewhere i guess.

question for y'all - how do you keep spring greens from bolting, and what can you do once they bolt? just use the greens in smoothies or something? also, follow up question, what do you plant after your greens have gone to shit?

[SB]

You mean the scapes?

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitc.../garlic-scapes


I usually end up making pesto with mine. I like to cut them before they unroll or straighten up. Moar energy goes into the bulb as a result.


Check out how to make black garlic too. Good way to preserve it and tastes good too.


Boook was very helpful when I started.

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Great.../dp/0963085018

[BCMtnHound]

dang, you guys are serious about garlic. also all of your layouts put my garden to shame, i wanna share pics so i can get pointers but i'm a little embarrassed. gotta start somewhere i guess.

question for y'all - how do you keep spring greens from bolting, and what can you do once they bolt? just use the greens in smoothies or something? also, follow up question, what do you plant after your greens have gone to shit?

Once the greens bolt, not much you can do but pull them and start something new. Unless you don't mind the change in bitterness. Keep one or two for seed for next year if you like your variety.

To delay bolting, we have raised beds that I rig a frame out of PVC tubing. Lets me start plants earlier with a greenhouse, and soon we will replace the plastic with an old white sheet to shade the greens. Temps (day and night) and light length are what trigger greens to start flowering. Each are a bit different so look up the variety you have on the web to see what the triggers points are. We are cool here until June, with overnight temps rarely getting over 10C, but by the time the night temps get closer to the low teens and daylight is almost 16hrs near the solstice, the lettuce is wanting to flower pretty bad.

[tgapp]

Once the greens bolt, not much you can do but pull them and start something new. Unless you don't mind the change in bitterness. Keep one or two for seed for next year if you like your variety.

To delay bolting, we have raised beds that I rig a frame out of PVC tubing. Lets me start plants earlier with a greenhouse, and soon we will replace the plastic with an old white sheet to shade the greens. Temps (day and night) and light length are what trigger greens to start flowering. Each are a bit different so look up the variety you have on the web to see what the triggers points are. We are cool here until June, with overnight temps rarely getting over 10C, but by the time the night temps get closer to the low teens and daylight is almost 16hrs near the solstice, the lettuce is wanting to flower pretty bad.

gotcha, okay, so what would you recommend planting mid-summer? like if i ripped spring greens now?

[BCMtnHound]

gotcha, okay, so what would you recommend planting mid-summer? like if i ripped spring greens now?

Plants that germinate well in warm soil like carrots, bush beans. If you have already started them, transplant cucumbers, or squash. If your thanksgiving table includes them, maybe give Brussels sprouts a try.

[tgapp]

Plants that germinate well in warm soil like carrots, bush beans. If you have already started them, transplant cucumbers, or squash. If your thanksgiving table includes them, maybe give Brussels sprouts a try.

dude my sunday breakfast table (and pretty much every other table) has brussel sprouts on it, fuck yeah! we'll do brussels and cucumbers and squash if those all do well in the summer time. thanks man.

another question - and sorry, i'm obviously not nearly as experienced as y'all, but the overnight low in SLC is supposed to be around 40ish tonight... should i cover my tomatoes?

[BobMc]

I'm going to, peppers as well.

[Boissal]

dude my sunday breakfast table (and pretty much every other table) has brussel sprouts on it, fuck yeah! we'll do brussels and cucumbers and squash if those all do well in the summer time. thanks man.

another question - and sorry, i'm obviously not nearly as experienced as y'all, but the overnight low in SLC is supposed to be around 40ish tonight... should i cover my tomatoes?

Tomatoes should be OK if they're well implanted. Peppers will not like it much, seems like 1 cold spell can slow them down for the season

[BobMc]

Mitigation tactics have been enacted, the vulnerable have been protected. Pumpkins, watermelons and cucumbers are on their own.

[Mr. Mike]

what's on the other side of the retaining wall and the gray monster? That's a serious barrier you have there.